Bodrum Hakkında İngilizce Bilgi

Bodrum Hakkında İngilizce Bilgi
It is soon becomes clear to every visitor to Turkey that the region is steeped in Ancient history, Bodrum, the ancient city of “Halicarnassus” is for sure no exception to this.

Excavation sites place the settlement of the Town as far back as 5000 years and area has been used as a trading port pretty much since then, the regions calm waters and natural harbor being the main contributors. Around 300 – 400 BC Bodrum became the capital of the Carian Empire further enhancing it’s trading reputation whilst gaining fame for it’s local Boat Building Skills, the latter of which survives to this day in the form of the Bodrum Gulet.

Bodrum and one of the 7 wonders of the world:
“The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus”
Constructed for King Maussollos, the Persian Satrap of Caria and completed around 350 BC, three years after his death. This highly ornate 40-Meter marble structure adorned with friezes, statues of horses and men survived for 16 Centuries before an earthquake damaged the roof and colonnade. The structure unfortunately then suffered “Man Made” damage in the 1500’s when the Knights of St. John used virtually all the stones from the Mausoleum to fortify their Crusader Castle.

Today only the foundations are visible at the original site of the Mausoleum, but remnants of stones, can be seen within the walls and structure of Bodrum Castle. For the real history buff Statues, sculptures and remains of the frieze from the Mausoleum are on display in The British Museum.

A final anecdote to the History of the Mausoleum has to be the story of the “Halicarnassus Fisherman” Cevat Sakir. It is said that, in a letter to the Queen of England, he requested that the Mausoleum parts be returned to Bodrum arguing that “such exquisite works of art were not finding their true place under the foggy and gray sky’s of London.” The response he received in true Victorian eloquence allegedly stated: “Thank you for reminding us of the matter, We have painted the ceiling where the Mausoleum is located in blue.”

Dominating the Town from all aspects is the castle of St. Peter, its origins date back to the 14th century and was established by The Knights of St. John of Malta. The completion of the Bodrum castle when added to their existing bases on Rhodes and Cos afforded them a foothold in Asia Minor and control of the most heavily used shipping waters of the day.
Construction on the castle took place through the 15th century, the first phase, walls and chapel being completed around 1437. Inside the Castle large areas of rock were excavated to form a series of Cisterns (14 in all) which were used to collect and store rainwater to supply the Knights during times of siege.turkeyarena.net

The Castle has undergone several different uses over the years, houses have been built within, public baths installed, a minaret was added to the chapel (converting it into a mosque) and has actually been used as a prison.

During the First World War a warship fired on the Castle, causing structural damage to several towers and toppling a minaret. After the war the castle was used to house an Italian garrison who made some repairs to the towers before finally withdrawing in 1921.

For almost 40 years after the Italian withdrawal the Castle stood idle and was used only to store artifacts from local excavations and shipwrecks. Finally though the castle has been refurbished and opened up as a tourist attraction housing one of the finest museums in the region.